The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 141 Liu Bei: My military advisor can really do anything

However, Sun Ce led his troops in Qu'a. After discussing with his ministers, he finally decided to attack Wujun first.

He sent Cheng Pu from Danyang to the back of Wujun and set out from Wucheng to attack Xu Gong.

He also ordered Zhu Zhi to set out from Qiantang, also from the rear, to attack Xu Gong.

Why must we attack Wujun from behind?

Because the south was developed late in ancient times, most of the road from Qu'a to Wujun was lakes and swamps.

It was difficult to get the army through.

Sun Ce had no choice but to let Cheng Pu and Zhu Zhi lead troops to attack southward.

Facing the powerful generals of the Sun family, Xu Gong had no power to resist.

In less than a month, it was conquered by Sun Ce.

After Xu Gong was defeated, he fled to Wucheng in a hurry and took refuge with the local commander Yan Baihu.

Sun Ce would be surprised and delighted about the battle if it went well.

Before next year, he will not only conquer Wujun, but also Kuaiji.

Now the only person left to be dealt with in Wu County is Yan Baihu in the west.

The ministers, led by Wu Jing, advised Sun Ce to destroy Yan Baihu first and then attack Kuaiji.

Sun Ce laughed and said:
"Tiger and his gang are just bandits. They have no ambitions and will be captured by me sooner or later."

"We still regard Kuaiji as our strategic target and will not change it."

"Before the beginning of next spring, we must take over Wujun and Kuaiji."

"By then, no one will be afraid of Yuan Shu or Liu Bei!"

As they were speaking, someone reported that the envoy from Shouchun had arrived.

Sun Ce was stunned and quickly met the envoy from Shouchun.

The envoy from Shouchun immediately stated his purpose and said that Lord Yuan wanted Sun Ce to return to Shouchun.

Be ready to be deployed to guard against attacks from Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

Faced with the sudden order from Yuan Shu, Sun Ce's face turned heavy.

He hurriedly summoned all the ministers to discuss the matter.

Sun Ce was not afraid of Yan Baihu, Xu Gong and others, but now he had to look at Yuan Shu's attitude.

Previously, when he led his troops across the river to attack Danyang and Wujun, he had specifically reported to Yuan Shu.

This means that Sun Ce’s previous military actions were authorized by Yuan Shu.

But the subsequent military operations were not authorized by Yuan Shu.

Sun Ce was going to send more troops to Kuaiji, which had already aroused Yuan Shu's vigilance.

So on the surface he summoned Sun Ce back to Shouchun to guard against Cao Cao and Liu Bei, but secretly he was afraid that he would become too powerful in Jiangdong.

in fact,

Yuan Shu had long known that it was difficult to assess Sun Ce's loyalty to him.

And his trust in Sun Ce dropped to a dangerous critical level.

Before this, he had promised Sun Ce that he would be the governor of Jiujiang, but he ended up breaking his promise.

Later, he promised that after Sun Ce conquered Lujiang, he would make Sun Ce the prefect of Lujiang, but he broke his promise again.

In fact, it would have been fine if Yuan Shu had broken his promise, but Sun Ce helped you conquer a county, and you didn't even give him any empty reward.

It was true that Sun Ce was not given even a penny or a nominal position.

This made Sun Ce extremely disappointed with Yuan Shu.

The history books say, "The art knows his hatred."

Even though Yuan Shu knew that Sun Ce hated him, he still looked down on him.

So the name Skeleton King is well deserved.

But Yuan Shu also thought of a way to discipline Sun Ce.

Sun Ce then took the initiative to request to leave Shouchun and attack Liu Yao.

Yuan Shu agreed, but only gave Sun Ce one thousand troops.

He thought that Sun Ce's thousand men would definitely not be able to defeat Liu Yao's army of tens of thousands.

Let the young people accept some of the beatings from society. When you, Sun Ce, fail, you will come back crying and begging me, Yuan Shu.

It will be easy to handle then.

But no one expected that Sun Ce would become so powerful in just a few months.

Before the people left Jiujiang, the original force of more than a thousand people had grown to five or six thousand.

Although Sun Ce had now conquered Wujun, he still had not made up his mind to break with Yuan Shu.

Because the Sun family currently still depends on the support of the Yuan family.

Sun Ce's own military position came from Yuan Shu's recommendation. He did not obey Yuan Shu as his leader. What identity did he have to lead the current 20,000-strong army?

Can Sun Ce, who has lost his status, still retain these talented people under his command?
How would the literati in Wu view Sun Ce?

Sun Ce needs to consider all these issues.

"General Yuan has ordered me to return to Shouchun. I am afraid that I will never be able to return to Jiangdong after this trip."

Sun Ce frowned, hesitating.

Zhou Yu analyzed:
"Xuzhou and Yanzhou are both recruiting troops for war and will soon attack Yuan Shu."

"It is only a matter of time before Yuan Shu is defeated. Bofu must not cut off his future and return to Shouchun at this time."

Sun Ce nodded and frowned:

"Although I know this, Shouchun is pressing me, so I have to respond."

Sun Ce did not receive the military authorization to attack Kuaiji.

If he wanted to continue attacking Kuaiji to the south, he had to get Yuan Shu's approval.

How could Yuan Shu agree?
In fact, Sun Ce had already thought of a way to deal with it.

"Uncle, cousin."

Sun Ce came to Wu Jing and Sun Ben.

"I want to send you two back to Shouchun. What do you think?"

This……

Wu Jing and Sun Ben looked at each other.

They said they were returning to Shouchun, but in fact they wanted to send them to Shouchun as hostages.

Why did Sun Ce do this?

This brings us to the special situation of the Sun family.

After Sun Jian's death, the Sun family was actually divided into three parts.

Cousin Sun Ben was the one who inherited Sun Jian's main troops.

My uncle Wu Jing was a general under Yuan Shu, and he had a large number of subordinates under his command.

And both of them hold high positions.

What about Sun Ce?
I have no job and no soldiers.

He is the weakest member of the Sun family, so it is impossible for him to become the head of the Sun family.

Including when Sun Ce crossed the river to attack Liu Yao, Wu Jing and Sun Ben were the main generals, and Sun Ce was just a supporting role.

But it was during the attack on Liu Yao that Sun Ce demonstrated his extraordinary bravery and military command ability.

At this time, Zhou Yu of Shu County, Lujiang, also provided strong support to Sun Ce, expanding Sun Ce's influence.

Sun Ce soon became the undisputed new head of the Sun family.

This means that Sun Ce went from being Wu Jing and Sun Ben’s subordinate to being their superior.

This actually had an impact on the mentality of Wu Jing and Sun Ben.

You can refer to Cao Cao and Zhang Miao, who also became superiors from subordinates.

Therefore, how to place Wu Jing and Sun Ben was a key issue that Sun Ce, who was only 22 years old at the time, needed to consider.

This is also the game between Yuan Shu and Sun Ce.

When Sun Ce was under Yuan Shu, he had done this kind of thing secretly taking away family members, and he was very skilled at it.

Yuan Shu had to be on guard.

He knew it was not easy for him to let Sun Ce come back, but he still put pressure on him, either you come back or you send two hostages back.

The status of these two hostages must not be underestimated, otherwise Yuan Shu will not buy it.

So Sun Ce came up with this conspiracy, intending to let his uncle Wu Jing and cousin Sun Ben return to Shouchun.

Why is it an open conspiracy?
Because Wu Jing and Sun Ben's official positions were actually higher than Sun Ce's at that time.

When attacking Liu Yao, these two were the nominal commanders.

Now that the battle has come to an end, it is natural for Wu Jing and Sun Ben to return to Shouchun to report on their work.

This is what Yu Gong said.

Personally speaking, this was also Sun Ce's way of "de-Sun Ben-izing" and "de-Wu Jing-izing" in the army.

He can unify the thoughts of his team.

This is not being mean or ungrateful, but the inevitable choice for families in this era.

Even after Sun Ce's death, Sun Quan also did a lot of "de-Sun Ce-ization" in order to unify the voice and facilitate organization.

Wu Jing and Sun Ben both understood Sun Ce's intention.

Although Sun Ce appeared to be discussing with the two men, he actually would not tolerate any refusal.

In desperation, he could only bow and say:

"As ordered!"

The two of them no longer called him "Bofu", as they knew that Sun Ce was no longer their junior.

But the new head of the Sun family.

The head of the family cannot return to Shouchun as a hostage, so only the two of them can go back.

They cannot refuse the orders of the head of the family, otherwise they will be cut off from the family.

After the two of them, Sun Ce's emotions were very stable.

His face remained calm, and he simply instructed Zhou Yu beside him:
"Gongjin, mobilize troops immediately and prepare to march south to attack Kuaiji."

"Here!"

Zhou Yu took the order and left.

……

……

Time quickly came to August.

The autumn harvest is not far away, and everyone in Xuzhou is making intensive preparations for the battle in Huainan.

During this period, Li Yi did another big thing.

On this day, he was in the camp, holding a meeting with senior military officials including Guan Yu, Qian Zhao, Xu Sheng, and Taishi Ci.

Everyone was listening attentively to what Military Advisor Li Yi had to say.

The topic of conversation was nothing more than the issue of the Huainan War.

The focus of the discussion was Shouchun, the capital of Yuan Shu.

This is the largest city in Jianghuai and an important town during the Three Kingdoms period, easy to defend but difficult to attack.

The soil here is fertile and irrigation is convenient, making it suitable for farming. The geographical advantages are sufficient for war and defense.

To guard the Yangtze River one must guard the Huai River. If one wants to protect the south of the Yangtze River, one must protect the Huai River.

Shouchun is opposite Yingkou, which is the confluence of Yingshui River and Huaihe River.

As long as we can stop the enemies coming from upstream, the south of the Yangtze River can be kept safe.

Faced with such an important town, Li Yi took the initiative to seek the opinions of the generals on how to capture it.

All of you present here are famous generals of the time. Everyone knows how difficult ancient siege warfare was.

Therefore, many people suggested that we should first use a field battle to annihilate Yuan Shu's main force, and then the siege of Shouchun would be easier.

In fact, if they really want to besiege the city, with Xuzhou's current strength, they will definitely be able to do so.

But the army on the front line spent an astronomical amount of money and food every day.

Of course, Li Yi hoped to pacify Huainan as soon as possible.

"If we attack Shouchun by force, how long do you think it will take to conquer it?"

When the generals heard this, they were all stunned.

After a long silence, Guan Yu was the first to speak:
"At least one month, at most three months."

This is already an extremely fast siege speed, especially when facing a big city like Shouchun.

Guan Yu dared to say this because the lord of Shouchun was Yuan Shu, who was holding him back.

It's only possible that it's so fast.

Qian Zhao seemed more stable. He frowned and said:

"Shouchun is surrounded by water on all sides and has three moats."

"The city is strong and very difficult to capture."

"I heard that Yuan Shu has stored up a lot of food and grass in Huainan, and the food in Shouchun can last for a year."

"If we raise a large army in Xuzhou to attack, and fail to conquer it, we will not be able to hold out for long."

"Instead, we are burdened by the war."

Qian Zhao's pessimistic attitude is understandable. After all, a war that mobilizes the entire country will ultimately result in heavy losses, regardless of victory or defeat.

Li Yi had been preparing for this war for a long time.

"I have something I want to give to you generals."

"Perhaps this item can help us play an important role in the siege of Shouchun."

Upon hearing this, all the generals were surprised:
"I wonder what it is?"

"Okay, everyone, follow me."

Li Yi led the generals to a workshop.

Hundreds of brave soldiers take turns on duty here every day, and no one is allowed to spy or get close.

A Lu Gong saw Li Yi and his men coming, and came to greet them from a distance, bowing respectfully and saying:

"Mr. Li, what you told me to do."

“It’s already been fixed!”

The Lu Gong wiped his sweat and thought to himself that this was not an easy job.

They made more than forty revisions before completing the project.

"Good, I am about to lead the officers in the camp to check it out, you lead the way."

"Here."

Lu Gong led Li Yi and others into the workshop and came to a huge object.

This object was covered with cloth. At Li Yi's signal, Lu Gong took the cloth off the cart.

The huge creature suddenly appeared before the generals.

“…This, this is a trebuchet?”

Taishi Ci stared at it, feeling that this catapult was different from ordinary ones.

Li Yi said calmly:
"Its full name is counterweight trebuchet."

The counterweight trebuchet has another more famous name, Huihui Cannon.

Most of the catapults during this period were still man-pulled catapults.

The distance of the thrown stone depends entirely on the strength and number of people pulling.

Not only does the hit rate is low, but the power is also small.

Moreover, this type of catapult is very difficult to transport and the raw materials are in short supply.

A catapult requires more than two hundred people to operate.

Later, during the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao used a more advanced catapult, also known as the Thunderbolt Chariot.

It uses the lever principle to launch, but it still requires hundreds of people to pull the rope.

At the same time, catapults are only suitable for siege warfare and not for field battles.

Therefore, the cost-effectiveness is very low. If people do not have mines at home, they will not invest in the war on a large scale.

Of course, with the rapid development of Xuzhou in recent years and the current economy, it is entirely possible to deploy a large number of catapults on the battlefield.

Since we are going to use catapults, we should naturally use the best ones.

Li Yi drew the blueprints early on and handed them over to the best local Lu workers for production.

There were many technical difficulties at the beginning, but Li Yi never rushed us.

Even after repeated failures, there is still no accountability.

While the workers in Lu felt pressure, they were also grateful for Li Yi's kindness and continued to work with peace of mind.

Finally, in August, the counterweight trebuchet was completed.

Since the disadvantages of high cost and low cost performance cannot be changed, we should maximize its advantages.

The biggest advantage of the counterweight trebuchet is that it can launch huge stones.

It is extremely powerful in killing soldiers defending the city.

The highest boulder that can be thrown can weigh more than 200 kilograms.

"Have you tried it?"

Li Yi asked the question that concerned him most.

"Sir, we have had people throw it before and the farthest distance was 140 steps!"

The range of bows and arrows in this era was generally no more than fifty steps, and a strong bow could only reach eighty steps.

Only a famous general at that time could shoot from a distance of a hundred steps.

The range of this new type of catapult has exceeded that of the crossbow.

It is almost plug-and-play and can be put into the battlefield immediately.

Even the leader, Lu Gong, found it incredible that this weapon came into being.

It will definitely occupy an important military position in the next hundreds or even thousands of years.

"……Um."

After listening to Lu Gong’s work report, Li Yi nodded.

This basically reaches the power level of the Huihui Cannon.

"Have you tried how many times they can be thrown?"

Li Yi asked again.

"……this."

The Lu workers looked at each other in bewilderment.

They had only tested the power of this new weapon, but had not yet tested its durability.

But on the other hand, I admire Li Yi's meticulousness.

Although this catapult is extremely powerful, it is based on the ability to carry hundreds of pounds of weight.

After using it a certain number of times, it will definitely fail.

Everyone apologized to Li Yi, saying that they had not tried endurance yet.

"It's okay. You have worked very hard this year. Remember to go to the state government to collect your reward money later."

Li Yi waved his hand and commended everyone for their work.

All the workers in Lu bowed their heads in thanks.

Li Yi turned back and said to the generals behind him:

"Although I haven't tested the durability of this trebuchet, according to my estimation, one trebuchet can launch about thirty times."

All the generals were delighted when they heard this.

"enough!"

"This catapult is extremely powerful. If we can build a few more, it will cover Shouchun completely."

"I don't think Yuan Shu can withstand the enemy!"

Qian Zhao smiled and said:

"Maybe Yuan Shu has never seen such a thunderous thing before, and he is ready to abandon the city and leave as soon as he hears the sound!"

After he finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.

Afterwards, Li Yi sent someone to invite Liu Bei to check out the power of this new catapult.

An hour later.

Li Yi, Liu Bei, and the top military leaders of Xuzhou all gathered together.

They all wanted to see with their own eyes the power of the new catapult that the military advisor had spent a year preparing to develop.

"...Sir, you can really do anything."

Although the cannon had not been fired yet, Liu Bei could not help but sigh and praise Li Yi.

Although he had never seen the power of the counterweight catapult, from a distance, it seemed that the structure would make some noise.

"My lord, if you are ready, please give the order to fire personally."

"……Um."

Liu Bei nodded, waved his hand, and shouted:

"Fire!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the leading artillery commander waved the command flag in his hand.

I saw a huge rock weighing over a hundred pounds rising into the air and flying high into the sky.

Everyone subconsciously looked up and looked in the direction where the boulder fell.

boom! ! !
The huge rock hit the ground, and it was like the sky was collapsing and the mountains were shaking.

"it is good!!!"

Liu Bei slapped his thigh and couldn't help clapping.

Guan Yu, Xu Sheng, Taishi Ci and other generals also pumped their fists and cheered loudly.

"Well, the military advisor is truly a rare talent in the world!"

"How could they invent a catapult with such enormous power!"

Liu Bei was overjoyed and excitedly held Li Yi's hand and refused to let go.

In the era of cold weapons, there were already many siege weapons.

But the main reliance was still on ant-style engineering, that is, relying on the flesh and blood of individual soldiers to climb the city wall.

Only after taking the city wall can you capture it.

But with such a powerful catapult, they could completely destroy the city wall first and allow the soldiers to charge in along the ruins.

Greatly reduces the damage caused by ant-type sieges.

In this way, even if facing a strong city like Shouchun, Xuzhou would be able to fight.

Immediately, Liu Bei rewarded Li Yi handsomely.

He also ordered people to prepare a banquet to entertain the Lu workers who were in charge of making the catapults during those days.

At the banquet, Liu Bei personally came to Li Yi to toast and thank him for his efforts.

At this time, Li Yi was busy with another thing.

……

(End of this chapter)